A coalition of religious groups and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) has described the National Youth Service Trust Fund as one of the greatest legacies for Nigerian youths by President Muhammadu Buhari-led federal government.
According to a press release signed by the trio of Bishop Abel Kings (College of Bishops), Sheikh Shehu Auwal Musa (College of Imams), and Comrade Solomon Semaka (CSOs) respectively and made available to journalists in Abuja, the coalition hinted that the NYSC Trust Fund is one of few bills that has received the greatest support from all stakeholders, noting that a pointer to its acceptability as can be seen in its speedy passage.
The coalition lauded the President for being youth-friendly and consistently making efforts toward building lasting legacies for Nigerian youths, citing the NYSC Trust Fund as the greatest of them all.
“The NYSC Trust Fund is one of the few bills passed by the National Assembly that received the highest number of memoranda from the public in support of its passage. This mass appeal towards the bill points to the acceptability of the trust fund chiefly because of the role the NYSC scheme has played in shaping the Nigerian economy and the lives of average Nigerians amidst scarce resources.
“The Trust Fund, therefore, comes in handy in consolidating funding lacuna in order to actualize the vision and mission of the scheme, especially in the area of job creation and skill acquisition”, the statement noted.
The Coalition noted with dismay the recent antics of those they described as enemies of Nigerian youths who have started spreading blatant falsehood in an apparent attempt to discredit the bill and subject Nigerian youths to perpetual unemployment and idleness.
Stating further, the coalition noted that with the presidential assent, NYSC will be better positioned to deliver world-class skill acquisition and entrepreneur centers across the country to fight unemployment and grow the economy.
“It is our position that this scheme has benefited every Nigerian and family, therefore, anybody trying to tarnish the image of the scheme is out for mischief and must not be taken seriously”, the statement added.
The Coalition equally described a bare-faced assault, allegations linking Brigadier General Mohammed Fadah, the new Director General (DG) of NYSC with the Senate President, and calling him a stooge planted to siphon funds meant for the scheme for political gains as highly unfortunate.
“The spurious allegations purportedly linking Brigadier General Mohammed Fadah, the current Director General of NYSC with Senate President, and calling him a stooge is very unfortunate. This bare-faced assault against the new DG can only be characterized as normal and expected given the commitment of the new DG to sustain the numerous policies already in place at NYSC. To further insinuate that funds accruable to the NYSC Trust Fund will end up in people’s pockets if the bill is assented by Mr. President is the most ridiculous anybody can make.
“To dare make such unfounded claims against an institution that has operated for more than four decades without any verifiable financial scandal is very unfortunate.
“In recent times, the NYSC scheme has been remitting billions of naira to the federation account as proceeds from internally generated revenues and excess funds from the annual budget of the scheme. Trying to create a situation of mistrust in a bid to derail presidential assent to the NYSC Trust Fund bill will not work because Nigerians are abreast with the facts. Any dissenting view at this point is a needless distraction worthy of attention”, the statement added.
While commending the National Assembly, CSOs, and other stakeholders for keeping faith with the NYSC and carrying out due diligence towards the passage of the NYSC Trust Fund, the Coalition insisted that the bill is foolproof now with the right legal structures to ensure transparency and accountability.
“We must therefore not relent in urging him to quickly give his assent to this very important bill so that youth unemployment will become a thing of the past in no distant time”, the statement added.
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